


Local College Student Re-enacts Scene From Rapunzel, Nearly Dies

by Eldribitch



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Demons, Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Alternate Universe - Twins, Author Is Sleep Deprived, College, Demons, Gods, How Do I Tag, Multi, Sawada Iemitsu's A+ Parenting, Sawada Tsunayoshi Is Not Vongola Decimo, Sawada Tsunayoshi is Flameless, Sawada Tsunayoshi is So Done, Temporary Amnesia, Twins, author doesn't know what she's doing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:41:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24550066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eldribitch/pseuds/Eldribitch
Summary: Honestly, his entire life has been one dumpster fire after another. This may as well Happen.(In which gods and demons are real and Tsuna tries his damnedest to avoid it all)
Relationships: Arcobaleno/Sawada Tsunayoshi, Colonnello/Sawada Tsunayoshi, Fon/Sawada Tsunayoshi, Lal Mirch/Sawada Tsunayoshi, Mammon | Viper/Sawada Tsunayoshi, Reborn/Sawada Tsunayoshi, Sawada Iemitsu/Sawada Nana, Sawada Tsunayoshi/Skull, Sawada Tsunayoshi/Verde
Comments: 28
Kudos: 360





	1. Where things are different

**Author's Note:**

> YEah. SO. I kinda know what im doing for this story but also not. 
> 
> This is my first work, thanks. 
> 
> Oh, and if you could drop a comment on the way out that would be fantastic.

It was an overcast day when Sawada Tsunayoshi fell from a tree, scraping his hands and side on the rough bark, and landing on the grassy ground with a thud. A scream left the small six year old’s mouth, pain wracking his body. 

Sobs tore from his mouth, tears and snot rolling down his face as he laid there in the grass.

“Tsu-kun!” 

Suddenly a warmth spread throughout his body, the pain slowly becoming more and more bearable. 

A hic left the boy as he looked at his mother’s concerned face, Hands doused in golden flames.

“Oh Tsu-kun,” she sighed, “What were you doing?”

He sniffled, and raised a scraped hand up to the tree, a plastic ball stuck in it’s branches.

“I-I was trying to _-hic-_ get my b-ball down,” he cried, rubbing his face into his mother’s shirt.

“Why didn’t you just ask someone to get it down for you?” she asked.

Tsuna just replied by crying harder, his injuries fading away under the Golden flame, but the memory of the pain still too fresh in his mind.

“Nana, is everything alright?”

Nana picked Tsuna up, letting the fluffy brunet hide his head in the crook of her neck, and smiled at her husband’s boss, an elderly man with a cane and white hair, her husband not far behind him. 

“Everything’s fine,” Nana giggled, “Tsu-kun just had a bit of a fall but he should be better soon.” Her hand bathed in flames continuously stroked her son’s back soothingly, and she could feel him slowly relaxing, the arms around her neck loosening bit by bit.

The men’s faces shifted to relieved, Iemitsu letting out a small sigh and the older gentleman letting out a chuckle. 

“I remember when my kids were that age. You’d leave them alone for five minutes and half of the house would be destroyed and they’d end up breaking ten bones.” He let out another chuckle, Nana joining in.

“Tsu-kun is a little angel, but ‘Nari-kun can be like that. He once broke a vase over his head and needed to get stitches.”

The man laughed again at that, a full body laugh instead of just a chuckle.

“Okaa-san!!” A high pitched voice yelled out. A young boy ran out from the house, blond hair bouncing as he ran and crashed into Nana’s legs. “Okaa-san,” he repeated looking up, blue eyes full of mortification, “stop telling people that!”

“Hmm? Why not?”

“It’s embarrassing!” he whined. 

The older man turned towards Iemitsu, smile apologetic, “You have a wonderful family, Iemitsu, but it’s about time for me to go.” 

Iemitsu nodded, “Thank you Nono.”

Nono turned back to the group of three and called out, “It was wonderful meeting you all, but unfortunately it’s time for me to go.”

Nana paused from her teasing of her eldest son and smiled, “It was wonderful meeting you too. C’mon boys, say goodbye.”

“Goodbye, Mister!”

“Goodbye…”

Nono gave a small wave and went back into the house, Iemitsu following closely behind him.

And like that they were gone.

__

Tsuna couldn’t keep his eyebrows from furrowing as thoughts rolled in, around, and out his head. Finally, his curiosity came to a peak. 

“Mama, what are flames?”

“Hmm?” She looked slightly off guard at the question. Her eyebrows scrunched up as she hummed in thought. And then she giggled. “Why don’t we ask your father~”

Nana stood up and nearly skipped over to the phone, picking it up and punching in a number.

“Hello Darling~”

“No, Everything’s alright! The boys are just asking about flames-” She stopped mid sentence, giggling after a moment of silence. “I know it’s exciting!”

“Hmm? Oh I thought this should be something their father talked to them about~” 

“Ok, I’ll talk to you later, Darling~”

Nana put the phone back with a click and sat back down at the table.

Tsuna just blinked at her and shot his brother a confused look.

Ienari shrugged back at him.

They finished dinner quickly, and got on the computer. 

“Okaa-san!!” Ienari yelled from the living room. It merely took less than a minute for Nana to poke her head in the room. 

“Okaa-san can you look up a video about flames for us?”

“Of course, ‘Nari-kun.” The Mother leaned over the two of them, quickly typing something into the address bar with deft fingers, and quickly clicked through some pages. 

“Here you are, you two!”

“Thank you Okaa-san!”

“Thank you Mama,” Tsuna said, planting a kiss on her cheek. 

“My boys are so cute!” She squealed, and left the room humming. 

The twins turned towards the computer screen, Ienari taking the mouse and clicking the play button. 

__

“Thank you for attending this meeting, Ms Sawada.”

“Is everything ok? Is someone in trouble?”

“Oh! No! It’s nothing of that sort, it’s just that there’s slight concern for your son, Sawada Tsunayoshi.”

“Concern?”

“Well, you see---”

__

“Burnt-out-Tsuna!”

“Burnt-out-Tsuna!”

“Burnt-out-Tsuna!”

“Burnt-out-Tsuna!”

“Burnt-out-Tsuna!”

__

**Dr. Rosie & Dr. Tulip: Flames S2EP4**

_“Hey! It’s me, Dr. Rosie! And today we’re going to be talking about flames! What are flames?! Haha! Well, Flames are energy that everyone possesses!”_

_“Wait a minute Dr. Rosie!”_

_“What is it Dr. Tulip?”_

_“Not **everyone** has flames!”_

_“Oh my gosh! You’re completely right! About two percent of the population doesn’t have flames! That means, out of 100 people, two people would be flameless!”_

_“Well, what about the people who have flames?”_

_“People with flames can be separated into seven types….”_


	2. In for a Penny, Out for a Pound. Punch You Out, Kick You Down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So ahem. 3000 words is short until you're writing it. 
> 
> Also I meant to post this much earlier but humans actually need 8 hours of sleep?? Which is wild af because the day is only 24 hours but oh well I made my own grave.

Tsuna clenched his eyes and sucked in a breath. Resisting the urge to slam his head on the desk was slowly becoming an up-hill battle. But, he couldn’t. He _needed_ those brain cells. 

He opened one eye to look at the shiny surface before slamming the lid shut once more. 

NO. _Resist._

He let out a sigh, regret surging inside of him.

He knew he shouldn’t have stayed up all studying but his vocabulary was spotty at best and he’s been putting it off in favor of cramming for his other classes. He thought he could just balance off the hour of sleep with coffee, but now he was just tired and loopy off caffeine. 

He ran his hands through his hair and mentally pulled up his big boy pants. Empty answers were worse than wrong answers. 

Tsuna picked up his pen and scratched most likely incomprehensible Italian down on paper, and cried a bit when the only words he could understand on the next question were ‘police’ and ‘law enforcement.’

And he still had another hour to go.

__

The shrill beep of the timer leaves Tsuna both cursing and thanking god that this test was finally over.

Groans and sighs of relief come from all over the small classroom, students stretching out in their seats as best as they could. 

“Testing is done.” Tsuna turns his attention to the Italian man sitting at the desk at the front of the classroom, the slightly pudgy man leaning forward in his seat. “Come bring your tests up when I call your name. Anyone caught working on their test during this time will be given a failing grade for cheating. I will also be giving you the paperwork for the class trip. This is very important paperwork, so _do not lose it._ If you lose it, email me as soon as possible for another copy. 

“This is time sensitive paperwork and if you want to join the class trip, you _need_ to turn it in within the next two weeks. Again, you will need to turn it in within two weeks if you want to go to Italy. Now, Abiko Hinata…”

Tsuna spaced out as he waited, blankly watching as one by one people got up from their spots and placed their tests on the teacher’s desk, walking out with a thick white envelope, name sprawled on it in dark sharpie.

“Sawada Tsunayoshi.”

Tsuna hurriedly stood from his seat, wincing as both of his knees popped, and hurried over the teacher so he could finally leave.

He flopped his exam on the desk face down with the rest of the tests, and received his envelope. 

“Ah, Mr. Sawada.”

“Yes, Mr. Cello?” he responded, very aware of the fact that the teacher hadn’t let go of the envelope yet.

“You’re a scholarship student, yes?”

Would it be rude to just leave the envelope behind? He has a very important nap to take.

“Yes, I have a scholarship.”

Mr. Cello nodded, “Ah, then you might be able to receive financial aid for the trip. You should talk to Student Aid.”

Tsuna nodded quickly, and tried not to bolt when the teacher finally let go. He rushed out regardless, speed walking out the doors of the language department and sucking in the fresh two’o’clock air. 

Freedom. His ass was numb from the chair, he was probably about to pass out any second now, and he probably shortened his life span by a couple years with how much coffee he had drank, but he made it through. Finals were over.

At least for him.

And then he was waking up in his bed. 

The slight burning sensation in his eyes slowly went away as he blinked and squinted at the bright lights. His roommate was sitting at the computer across from the beds, and despite the headphones sitting on his head, he paused his game and spun around towards Tsuna, a grin on his face.

“Look who’s finally conscious.” 

Tsuna squinted angrily at him and sat up on the bed, ignoring the lurch of his stomach. 

“Koda, I will pay you cash money to get me something from the convenience store. My stomach feels like it’s trying to kill me.”

“We both know you can’t afford me.”

“But I’m dying, Koda~!” Tsuna whines, flopping back onto his mattress and throwing his arm over his eyes. 

How the fuck did he get back to the dorm.

Luckily, Koda actually found his dramatics amusing. 

Shaking his head, Koda stood up and looked for a pair of pants on the floor to put on. 

“Only because I love you, Tsuna.”

“Marry me~”

He rolled over onto his stomach, watching Koda shove his legs into a pair of jeans that still had a belt on it. Tsuna grabbed his phone off the floor and squinted against the intense brightness.

“But really, I’ve only had coffee in the past twenty hours and will probably black out.”

“I know, that’s why I’m doing it.”

“We should have a fall wedding.”

Koda barks out a surprised laugh and grabs his keys and wallet from the small side table they crammed in here. 

“Be right back.”

“See ya.”

Tsuna let out a sigh as he sat up in his bed, feeling sluggish in a way that could only be from dehydration, and grabbed a plastic cup from the small table and made his way to the shared bathroom. 

He plopped down on the toilet, tied his hair back from his face, and sipped at his water, not wanting to become nauseous from gulping it down all at one. 

It didn’t take long for Koda to come back, the convenience store only a block away from the dorms, and the brunette got up and sat on the floor with his half empty cup. The bedframe dug uncomfortably into his back, but Tsuna had long become used to it.

The small dorms meant that there was only room for the necessities. Unfortunately the necessities did not include chairs. Only a bunk bed and dressers for their stuff comfortably fit in the dorm, the computer desk and small table were pretty much wedged in there, but both didn’t mind the tight fit.

“I bought you your usual and a green tea.” Koda tossed the plastic bag by Tsuna’s feet,and Tsuna quickly tore into the food.

Koda sighed and just took his place back at the computer, headphones back over his ears.

The brunet let out a content sigh as the first bite of rice hit his stomach, but groaned as his stomach cramped up painfully. Once the pain passed he took another bite of the bento, washing it down with some water. It only took a few bites for his stomach to settle, and soon the empty bento was tied up in the bag it came in.

Tsuna sipped on the can of green tea, pillow propping his head up while he scrolled through forum posts on his phone. 

Koda closed the window and stretched out in his chair, content sigh leaving him as his back popped. The chair squeaked as he spun in it in his odd position, Tsuna glancing up from his phone. 

“You gonna go home for the weekend now that finals are done?”

The brunette let out a yawn, “Yeah, I haven’t seen my mom in a while. Everything is basically smooth sailing for the rest of the year now that finals are over.”

“Famous last words.”

Tsuna shot him a look.

The two went back into a comfortable silence, both of them simply scrolling on their phones. 

“Do you wanna get sushi for dinner before you leave?”

Tsuna shrugged. “Sure.”

\--

Despite it being almost 7pm, the sky was still pretty bright outside. The two twenty-year-old’s talked freely, only pausing when they had to get out of the way for another person walking on the sidewalk. 

“I swear I had no idea what anything was on my test. You start regretting becoming a math major when most of the math becomes greek symbols. English alphabet? Alright. Greek?? No, I’m out.”

Tsuna laughed, pulling the door to the sushi shop open. 

“Irasshaimase!”

They smile and nod at the server before taking a seat at the bar.

“When I started trigonometry in highschool I thought I was going to have a stroke.”

They pulled plates from the conveyor, and started picking at their food, laughing and joking around.

“Trigonometry is just the gateway to higher math. Those who love it get hooked, and those who hate it never touch it again.”

“I sincerely doubt that.”

“Good, me too.”

Koda grabs a plate of sashimi and places it in front of Tsuna, “Tuna for Tuna-yoshi.”

The brunet rolls his eyes. “I should’ve never told you my nickname.”

Koda opens his mouth to respond, pulling a plate of sushi only to freeze mid motion.

Their bodies go rigid as everyone’s phone in the restaurant goes off at the same time. The place goes dead silent, the softly playing music that was drowned out now able to be heard by everyone. 

“Shit.”

“Emergency Alert: Shelter in place for all occupants of B city. Demon sighting reported by the Mitsubishi Bank, 1060 M street,” Tsuna reads off and relaxes. “That’s almost seven kilometers from here, there’s no way it’ll get over here before an exorcist gets to it first.”

Koda slumps in his chair and sighs, “Thank god.”

Tsuna quickly thought about teasing the other, but brushed it off. This didn’t really seem like something to be poking fun at.

Instead, they continued to eat, the previous atmosphere ruined.

The door chimed with someone entering.

“Sorry! But I’ll be in your care for a while.”

Boh Tsuna and Koda turned in their seats, Tsuna doing a double take as who exactly just walked in finally processed.

“Eh? Kyoko?”

The caramel haired woman turned towards the sound of her name in confusion until she locked eyes with Tsuna, and a smile graced her face. 

“Sawada-kun!”

It wasn’t long before she was pulling out a chair by Tsuna and settling in. 

“I’m surprised you recognized me.”

“It’s a little hard to forget you after everything that happened, Sawada-kun.”

Tsuna could only stare at Kyoko with a deer-in-headlights-look.

Koda nudged him, knocking him out of his stupor. 

“Oh right, Koda, this is Sasagawa Kyoko. We went to middle and high school together. Sasagawa-san, this is Mizuno Koda, we’re currently roommates.”

“Nice to meet you, Mizuno-san!” Kyoko chirped. 

“Nice to meet you too, Sasagawa-san.”

Kyoko leaned back in her chair and pulled a plate of sushi from the conveyor. 

“How’s your modeling career doing?” Tsuna asked, vaguely remembering something like that being spread around the school a month or two before they graduated.

“Mmh, really, really well! I actually just finished a shoot today! I’m surprised you remembered.”

“Oh, that’s great. Are you here to visit Kurokawa-san?” 

Tsuna tosses a piece of sashimi in his mouth, munching on the fatty tuna with delight.

“Yep, I haven’t seen Hana-chan at all for the past two weeks, so I thought it would be nice to drop by now that testing is finished.”

“Wait- wait,” Koda cuts in, the two brunets turning their attention towards him. “You guys aren’t talking about Kurokawa Hana, are you? Long curly hair, angry at the world, Kurokawa?”

Tsuna nearly sprays his half chewed tuna all over the counter, but manages to cover his mouth in time and tries to withhold his laughter.

Kyoko doesn’t even blink, and a part of Tsuna has to give her respect for that. 

“That sounds like Hana-chan, do you know her?”

“I know of her. She’s practically famous in the criminal justice department. Apparently she’s already working on real cases with one of the teachers, making her one of the youngest students to ever get that privilege.”

Kyoko’s face lit up, a faint blush dusting her cheeks, and like that the three fell into easy conversation.

Time ticked on, ten minutes becoming thirty minutes, thirty minutes becoming an hour, and by the hour-twenty mark came rolling around everyone’s phones went off again, and it was like a weight came off of everyone’s chest.

“Shelter in place is now over, Demon has been exorcised, J street has been closed off temporarily due to excessive damage,” Tsuna summarized, and laid his phone back down on the table. 

The three of them got up from their seats, already having paid their bills a while ago.

“It was nice seeing you both!”

“You too, it was really nice meeting you, Sawagawa-chan.”

Kyoko gave a small wave before leaving, the night air blowing into the restaurant with a chime of a bell. 

Koda sighs. 

Tsuna merely snorts, recognizing the expression on his friend’s face. 

“She’s dating Kurokawa.”

“WHAT?!?”

__

“But she’s like the personification of sunshine! 

“I know.”

“She’s so nice!”

“I _know_ , I went to school with her.”

“And Kurokawa is angry and calls people monkeys!”

“ _I know_ , I _also_ went to school with her.”

“How?!”

“Sigh, Not to stereotype, but don’t be fooled, Sasagawa-san isn’t a sun.”

“Then what-”

“She’s a mist.”

“WHAT?!?”

__

“But she’s so nice!”

“I **know.** You’ve already **said that**.” 

“HOW?”  
__

Tsuna shoved clothes into his now empty backpack. Dirty clothes, but he intended to just wash them when he got home. And for that, he shoved in as much laundry as could into the bag.

His hair was tied back into a ponytail, his hair grown out from not cutting it for two- almost three years. College was the most time consuming and draining thing he had ever done, getting a haircut was one of the last things he had his mind on. 

Tsuna tossed on a coat before slinging the backpack on. He patted his pockets one last time to make sure his keys and wallet were still in them, and turned towards Koda.

“See you Tuesday.”

“See ya, be careful!”

The brunet slipped his phone in his coat pocket and left the dorm, taking the stairs down to the first floor and left into the night air. 

The train station was not far at all, only a couple blocks from campus, and soon Tsuna was sitting in the cold train car, swaying side to side as the train rocked back and forth. 

He was the only one in the car, possibly the entire train, and took it as an invitation to prop his feet on the handicap seats. 

It was about a two and a half hour train ride to Namimori, and Tsuna was gonna make himself comfortable.

Very few people came onto the train. It was late, and when they did come on, they only stayed for a few stops before getting off. Tsuna merely offered them a cursory glance before returning back to his very riveting game of solitaire, absently tapping on the card pile.

When his phone buzzed at him, fifteen percent battery left, Tsuna clicked his phone off and slipped it in his pocket. He didn’t want to use up all of the battery just playing games, and instead just dozed off while looking out the window. 

Suddenly, an odd feeling suddenly came upon him and Tsuna suddenly felt the urge to look around the train. 

He turned his head--

“…..”

...And, how exactly did you put pure and utter terror into words? 

There really wasn’t a way to truly convey the fuzzy coldness that filled you when you looked at something you truly feared, or to explain how it felt like something was pushing pulling your guts into the bottom of your stomach. The way your muscles were completely relaxed yet tense as flight or fight rushed through you, or the way your throat felt as your lungs tried to take the next breath, but you were too afraid to even blink, so how could you take the next breath? 

Grey skin seemed to sag over its body, it’s bulbous head had no ears nor nose, only large eyes that were wide apart on its head and a large grinning mouth.

It’s neck was thin, but Tsuna had to resist the urge to widen his eyes as it slowly lengthened, it’s head flopping from its own weight over as it made its way closer. 

And closer.

And closer.

_And closer._

It’s face was a mere inches from his. 

His eyes watered and burned.

It’s grin split its head in two, rows of large, blunt teeth letting out pants of rotten breath that fanned over his face.. 

_Don’t move. Don’t blink. Don’t breathe. Or you’re dead._

The train stopped.

Tsuna was frozen in his seat.

But then it’s neck retracted quickly, head suddenly flush with it’s fat, short body. 

Tsuna wanted to scream as he watched it waddle to the door, it’s arm toothpicks that just seemed to stick out dowards. 

Tsuna let himself blink twice still staring straight ahead as he waited for the train doors to close. 

At the sound of the doors closing, Tsuna glanced at the doors, his heart giving almost a painful squeeze as _it watched him through the glass._

But the train lurched forwards and Tsuna could breathe again. 

His hands wouldn’t stop trembling as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He couldn’t stop mistyping his password in, only to realize he didn’t need his password to call emergency services, and listened to the dial tone like it was some kind of lifeline. 

_“119, what’s your emergency?”_

Tsuna sucked in a shaky breath and tried to talk, only for his voice to crack. He breathed for a couple of seconds, gathering himself, and tried not to drop his phone as his hand started to shake violently. 

“I- I would like to… I would like to report a Demon sighting.”

Tsuna could hear the clack of a keyboard through the phone, the woman calm where he was not. “Alright sir, and where did you see it?” 

Tsuna took a second to check the map for the last stop. “R sta-station.”

There was a slight pause, but the sound of a keyboard was heard through the phone, a couple clicks of a mouse, and after a minute the woman was talking again. “Alright, sir, exorcists are on their way right now. Are you or others in any danger right now?”

“No, no, I’m, I’m on the train.”

“You’re on the train?” 

“I’m _on the train_ ,” Tsuna hissed. “It was on the _**fucking train with me.**_ ”

_“Sir?”_

“Sorry, sorry,” he breathes. Tsuna resists the urge to run his fingers through his hair and just pull, “I’m just... very shaken up at the moment.”

_“Understandable, sir, no need to apologize. Do you know when it got on the train?”_

“Probably the stop before it, Q station.”

More typing. More clicking.

_“If you would like, I can arrange an exorcist to pick you up at the next station and take you home.”_

“Erm, well, I’m getting off at Namimori Station, can you..?”

_“Absolutely.”_

Tsuna let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

_“Would you like me to stay on the phone with you?”_

“Please.” Tsuna cringed at the desperation in his voice.

_“Okay. How old are you sir?”_

“I’m twenty, but I’ll be turning twenty-one in October.”

_“Twenty? Are you in university?”_

“Y-yeah. I go to B University.”

_“Oh really, what are you majoring in?”_

__

The train lurched to a stop as brakes squealed on the tracks, and Tsuna could feel his stomach lurch with it. His limbs felt like lead.

“Alright,” he breathed, licking his lips in anxiety. “I’m... at my stop. Thank you for staying on the phone with me.”

_“It was no problem Tsunayoshi. There should be an exorcist to take you home right when you step off of the train.”_

“Thank you, again.”

_“You’re welcome, stay safe.”_

Tsuna let her hang up, finger tapping the phone case in a nervous tick as he pulled the phone from his ear and watched the screen go dark.

Trepidation crawled up his spine as he got up and slung his bag back over his shoulder, the train coming to a stop. He took a long pause before looking at the door, the fact that there wasn’t anything at the window not giving him any respite. 

He stepped off the train and looked around.

“Little animal.”

Tsuna spun around in surprise.

“Hi-Hibari-san?”

The older man just watches him, and Tsuna swallows, memories of being ‘bitten to death’ playing in his mind like a movie reel. 

“Are you… here for me?”

Hibari grunts and walks away, and Tsuna, having grown up in wonderful namimori, takes it as his cue to follow him. 

….Was it too late to get-- yeah... it probably was. Damn it.

Crickets chirped. It wasn’t Cicada season yet, the night still considered quiet when the alternative is thousands of screaming insects. 

This didn’t stop Tsuna from jumping at his own shadow. 

Any unusual sound had him stopping in his tracks, anything he thought he saw from the corner of his eyes had him flinching.

After bumping into hibari for the first time he just narrows his eyes threateningly. The second time he grabs Tsuna’s shoulder and drags him along, not stopping until they were out front of his house.

“Tha-thank you, Hibari-san.”

Hibari just turned and left without a word.

And Tsuna was left on the front step alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me writing:   
> *Spends ten minutes trying to erase a second period in my sentence but fails*  
> *Squints at it suspiciously before scratching it off my screen*  
> "......"


	3. lol srry for the shitty and late update I got sucked into some weird shit and now I'm living with a technically-not-drug-dealer

Nana wasn’t expecting the late-night wake up call, though a lot of things involving her family tended to be unexpected. 

“Mama?”

A soft voice was carried through the dark bedroom, stirring her awake. She rolled over in bed, the old mattress squeaking under her, and brushed her hair out of her eyes. 

Her eyes were watery and stinging, but that didn’t stop her from squinting in the pitch black and trying to make out the shades of dark. 

“Mama?” the voice whispered again, and Nana gave up trying to see anything, merely moving from the middle of the bed.

“Tsu-kun.”

His footfalls were almost completely silent as he moved, the only thing giving Tsuna away was the occasional floorboard squeaking under his weight. Nana mentally sighed as she felt the mattress dip.

The question was on the tip of her tongue. 

Instead she rolled over as Tsuna settled under the duvet, reaching out for him and pulling him close. 

She tucked her youngest underneath her chin as if he was still the small ten-year-old in her memories, scared stiff from a nightmare instead of the grown twenty-year-old he was.

He may be an adult now but he was always her child.

She doused her hand in sun flames and felt him go boneless against her as she stroked his head, a relieved sigh escaping from him. A small part of her mind took note of the slightly greasy hair under her fingertips. 

She should get him to take a bath tomorrow. 

But that was tomorrow.

For now Nana just waited for the heavy breath and slight snores, her sun flames casting light across her face and around the room. 

...When was the last time she got to do this?

Her Tsu-kun had always been, putting bluntly, a mama’s boy since he was born.

...Maybe even before he was born.

_His small body greedily sucking up her flames, heart fluttering._

Nana shook the thought out of her head.

Ienari-kun would never let her do this, she mused. Always headstrong and independent even if it wasn’t to his benefit. Even if he always picked up her frequent phone calls, when was the last time she had seen him face to face?

She felt a strong huff of breath spread over her collarbones, snapping her from her thoughts. A small snore reached her ears, and she bit back the small laugh. 

That was one thing he had gotten from his father, though she would never say it. Ienari took mostly after Iemistu, blond, coarse hair and blue eyes, boisterous attitude to match his looks, and Tsuna after her, but there were always small things that showed their heritage. 

Another soft snore and Nana extinguished the light from her hands, resting her arm on the ones wrapped around her waist.

It was a comforting yet cruel thought, but Nana couldn’t help it bubble up from the back of her brain. 

Tsuna wouldn’t leave her. 

Not the way that Iemistu or Ienari did. She loved them both dearly, one being her own flesh and blood, the other being the love of her life, and she couldn’t imagine her life without them, but that didn’t stop the niggling loneliness that came creeping. 

No, Tsuna wouldn’t leave her. He would leave, yes. Everyone had to spread their wings and leave the nest some day, but she could always count on him to come back. He would leave, but he would never leave her.

And with that selfish thought, Nana closed her eyes and let herself drift back into sleep.

___

When Tsuna woke up it wasn’t to the scent of instant ramen he had grown accustomed to while living with Koda, but rather to the sound of flipping pages. 

He peeked an eye open catching sight of his mother sitting up in bed, flipping through a novel. 

Sensing his gaze, the older woman turned her head and gave him a smile. 

“Morning, Tsu-kun.” 

Tsuna merely let out a grunt, brain still too fuzzy to make a coherent sentence. 

Nana let out a small laugh, and slipped a piece of paper in her book and set it down. She smoothed out her pajamas as she stood up, a matching yellow shirt and pants. 

“I’ll get started on breakfast.”

Tsuna finally finds the will to lift his head off the pillow, pulling a lock of hair out of his mouth.

“Alright.”

He buried his face into the pillow and listened to the house creak and groan around his mom.

But then the memories of yesterday snapped to the forefront of his mind and a shudder ran through his frame. 

_Unsafe. Danger. RUN RUN RUN R UN RUNRUNRUNRUNRUNR-_

Tsuna jolted up. 

That… that’s enough of that.

The conscious part of his brain knew he was safe and sound, but…

A vent blew cold air onto his legs as he placed his socked feet on the floor. 

He knew what everyone else knew: If you see a demon, report it, run, and hide. Don’t fight it. You won’t win. 

The terror they inflict on anyone who gets close will cause them to freeze up, it was like the promise of death and ruin rolled off of them. And it did. 

It lingered and stuck to people, places. It made people see things that weren’t there, see figures out of the corner of their eye, buildings and items will crumble and age faster than normal. 

...Honestly, out of all the people he expected to become a hunter, Hibari-san was the least… no wait. Hibari-san would be the most perfect person. As far as he knew, his only two emotions were annoyance and apathy. Demon’s couldn’t amplify fear if the person couldn’t even feel it. 

Now whether or not Hibari-san was actually human…. 

“What’s so funny?” 

Tsuna paused his descent down the stairs, glancing up at his mom and relaxing his grin into a smile. 

“Nothing Mama, I’m just thinking.” 

Nana hummed, pressing a button on the rice cooker and moving to rinse the green onions in the sink. 

“Well,” Tsuna started, cocking his head. Brown strands fell into his face. “I was just thinking about Hibari-san.”

“Eh? Hibari Kyoya-kun? You should invite him over for dinner, Tsu-kun! You both were such good friends in school,” she laughed, turning the running water off.

Tsuna paled at the thought. “EHH? No! Absolutely not!”

“Huh?” She turned to blink at him, “Weren't you two close in middle school? He brought you home all the time!”

_That’s because he was looking for someone to fight!!_ Tsuna screamed in his head, the smile plastered on becoming more and more strained as memories of being used as bait surfaced to the forefront of his mind.

That and getting beat up by Hibari-san himself. 

“Erm, no, I’m pretty sure he’s very busy with his exorcist work, mama.”

“He’s such a hardworking boy,” she giggled. “If I ever see him I’ll invite him over for dinner.”

“Er, well, I don’t think-”

“Tsu-kun, why don’t you take a bath while I make breakfast?”

“Ah… ok.”

And he carried his defeat all the way to the bathroom.

\---

His fingers snagged in his wet hair as he ran them through it. Hot steam clung to his lungs as he moved from the stool on the floor to the bathtub, careful not to slip on the slick tiles. 

Tsuna sank into the hot water with a groan. Pin prick bubbles blew from his lips as the water sat above his nose, hair resting on the water’s surface.

If he focused, he could see water droplets on his eyelashes. 

He shifted, resting on the edge of the tub. 

The last time he had a bath was the last time he had come home. The university wasn’t the best, with it’s small dorms and simplistic facilities, but the tuition was cheap and the curriculum didn’t slack. All in all it was a really good school.

He hasn’t set himself on any career path yet, instead just taking classes he wants and should take. And if those credits end up qualifying him for a degree, well, who was he to complain?

The future wasn’t something Tsuna enjoyed thinking about. It mostly came with a feeling of overwhelmed disconnect. Like he wasn’t quite there.

It was okay, he could figure things out. Maybe not now, but it should come to him eventually. 

He just prayed that the eureka moment came sooner than later. He wasn’t sure how many more stressful finals he could take.

If worst comes to worst he could probably ask Ienari for a job in Italy? 

He didn’t know exactly what he did, but maybe…

“Aaaahh. Blah blah blah blah blah blah. Nooooo.” Tsuna, of course, emphasized the miniature outburst of nonsense by slamming his face into the surface of the hot water.

He was good, he wasn’t going into whatever shady shit was going on at that part of the world. Nope. He was gonna live a life full of not carefully stepping around his loved one’s and keeping secrets his entire life. Nope. Will not. 

He would rather lose two of his fingers than become another Iemitsu Sawada.

Yeah…. It was best if he just figured out what he wanted to do and live a normal life. 

A knock on the bathroom door knocks him out of his thoughts.

“Breakfast is ready, Tsu-kun.”

Tsuna quickly stands up and squeezes the water out of his hair. 

“I’ll be right out!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah I was supposed to post 90% of this at like july buuuuuuuuut stuff happened


End file.
